Tyler Family Surprise
by SeattleWhovian
Summary: Rose gets a surprise from her eccentric great Uncle Geoff. And the Doctor. Please read Author's Note for more on this one-shot.


Tyler Family Surprise

A/N This takes place the afternoon before the opening of "Aliens of London," when the Ninth Doctor and Rose are on the roof-top, hanging out. If you've never seen "The Three Doctors," I highly recommend you do so before reading this, so you know who Professor Tyler is. It's the Tenth Anniversary story, with the Third Doctor. (To make it simple, Prof. Tyler has met the First, Second and Third incarnations of the Doctor, Jo Grant and the Brig and Benton as well. And Omega.)

Rose bade the Doctor farewell before they each went their separate ways for the afternoon. The Doctor was off to Cardiff, to research the recently-discovered space-time rift in the square on Cardiff Bay in more depth. Rose was off to a Tyler family gathering, something she'd normally avoid but she was of a mood to socialize with fellow Humans for a while and where better than a family gathering?

Even though she barely remembered her father, she liked to keep up with the Tyler family when she could. It was also a good excuse to escape her mother for a few hours, since Jackie didn't really feel a connection to her deceased husband's family any longer.

Ambling over to the buffet table, Rose picked up a small plate and fork and began to inspect the various offereings. Her shoulder brushed against the older man in front of her and he glanced behind his shoulder.

"Oh, hello!" he turned, greeting her with a friendly smile. "You're Pete's daughter, right? My brother's grand-daughter?"

Rose flashed her brilliant smile at him and said, "Yes, I'm Rose. You're my great uncle Geoff, right?"

"Yes, yes, you remember! It's gratifying when my own family remembers me. I'm kind of the odd duck out, being a scientist and all. Not the usual Tyler family calling."

Knowing what she did about her father, Rose had to nod her head in agreement. He was as far from being a scientist as it's possible to get.

The two finished filling their plates and wandered off together, toward a little table. They gratefully sat down with food and drink and continued...

"I never did too well in school, in science, but lately I've found myself far more interested in the universe around me," Rose told him.

"Oh? What brought on this change of heart and mind?" her Uncle Geoff asked her.

"It's so amazing, if you sit back and watch it all together, how things intertwine in ways you never realized!"

"Now you've really piqued my curiosity. I'm not sure if you know this, but I _am_ a high-energy physicist. That's why I'm so curious on what made you 'see the light', if you'll pardon the pun."

"Well, like one thing: do people really think about plastic? Where it comes from, where it's going, things like that? Then there's the Sun and Earth and the fate of both in five billion years. And what about the space-time continuum? Does the average Human even _think_ about what that means? How delicate it is, how easily it can be ripped?"

Rose's Uncle Geoff simply sat back and stared at her, trying to process everything she said. Rose realized that maybe she'd revealed a bit too much, but come on, how often did she get to flummox a fellow Tyler? It's not like she saw much of her great uncle or anything, except at the rare Tyler family get-together. She just wanted to have fun with it, for the afternoon.

"Hmmm, space-time," Geoff mumbled to himself. "Well, I know a fair piece about the space-time continuum. I've seen some odd things...which were so odd I didn't even dare to write about it all in a paper for my university." He had to chuckle, remembering when he told a certain someone that he wasn't going to write about his eventful day, because he wanted to keep his job.

"I had the strangest day once...back in the 70s. Made me rethink everything I thought I knew about physics. Black holes, the speed of light in a vacuum, matter and anti-matter, temporal physics...it was all so contrary to what I'd been taught all my life that it made me question everything I thought I knew about the universe."

It was now Rose's turn to sit and stare at her uncle, her mouth hanging open. She finally said, "That, uh...that sounds amazing."

"Now, when I do lectures, I want to tell my class, 'This is the way we _think_ it is - but it's all wrong!' I try to teach them about time and relative dimensions in space, but where do I begin? I barely have the maths for it, so how can I explain it to my students?"

The pink that creeped up Rose's fair skin surprised Professor Tyler. What could've made his great-niece blush so?

"Time...and...relative..." she repeated, too stunned to continue.

"Dimensions in space, yes," he finished for her.

"It's actually 'dimension'," she whispered.

"What?"

"Uh, this 'strange day' you had in the 70s, did it involve a man about six feet tall, buzz cut, leather jacket, northern accent?"

"No, it all started with my contacting a government organization about some strange cosmic ray readings I'd received. I met Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and his scientific advisor, who was about 6' 3" tall, curly white hair, fancy get-up, posh accent."

"Huh," was all Rose could reply. This was very odd, because if he hadn't described the men involved that day, she would've sworn he was speaking of the Doctor and TARDIS.

"Can you tell me any more about this strange day you had?"

Professor Tyler chuckled, "You'd never believe me. Like I said, I didn't write about it because I wanted to keep my position at university."

"Well, I'm no physicist but I do have an open mind. C'mon, tell me. It won't shock me, believe me."

Before the Professor could begin to tell his strange tale, a man, about six feet tall, short-cropped hair and a leather jacket approached their table. Rose opened her mouth to greet him, but he startled her with...

"Hello, Professor Tyler!"

Rose's great Uncle Geoff looked up and immediately replied, "Good afternoon, Doctor! It's been a long time!"


End file.
